Is It Really Okay to End a Friendship?

Every once and a while I talk to someone who asks permission to end a friendship. They say something like, “Is it really okay that I stop calling?” or “I can’t just ‘break-up’ with her…can I?”

Here’s my view on relationships:

Life is like a play—there are many scenes and a rotating cast of characters.

Some characters are there throughout the entire play. Their roles might change; they might have a leading role in some scenes and a supporting role in others. They might even be a background prop in some scenes but they’re still written in, somehow.

And others aren’t around for long. They might have a starring role in just one scene then they exit stage left and don’t return.

When you watch a play and notice that a character doesn’t come back, there’s no judgment. It just is. It’s what’s in the script, what makes sense in the context of the overall story.

New supporting characters come in as the main character (you) evolves. It wouldn’t really make sense any other way. It wouldn’t make sense to have every single character in every single scene just because they’ve always been there.

For the mere fact that “We grew up together” or “We’ve known each other so long”.